An Impatient Patience: Achieving Orthodox Unity and Canonical Normalization in the West

our years ago, in June of 2009, something momentous took place in World Orthodoxy. At the invitation of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, delegates from the fourteen Autocephalous Orthodox Churches participated in the historic Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference, meeting at the Center of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Chambésy-Geneva, Switzerland. They expressed their “desire for the swift healing of every canonical anomaly that has arisen from historical circumstances and pastoral requirements, such as in the so-called Orthodox Diaspora, with a view to overcoming every possible influence that is foreign to Orthodox ecclesiology.”

This ecumenical decision translated quickly into the establishment of Episcopal Assemblies of Orthodox Bishops in 12 locations throughout the world in historically non-Orthodox lands. Here in America the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops is set to convene for its fourth annual meeting in just a week or so in Chicago, Sept. 17th-19th, 2013.

What exactly are the bishops doing? What is being accomplished? And what is the purpose and intent of these Assemblies throughout the West?

In this extensive 30-minute interview produced by Patristic Nectar Films the internationally acclaimed Orthodox theologian Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) addresses just these questions to provide a context to understand the movement of the Holy Spirit in these assemblies today.

Patristic Nectar Publications (PNP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing spiritual edification and formal Orthodox Christian catechesis. It publishes the teachings of the Church as expressed by the Holy Fathers through a vast array of patristic audio books and lecture series, spreading the wealth of Sacred Tradition to the modern-day media culture. PNP is distinctive in the fidelity of its publications to the mind of the Church, and the freedom in the publications from personal opinions and theological fads.

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